When the SBA found a subcontractor to be affiliated with its prime contractor under the ostensible subcontractor rule, the subcontractor could not appeal the SBA’s finding to the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals.
In a recent size appeal decision, OHA held that a subcontractor lacks the ability to file a size appeal because the subcontractor is not directly affected by the size determination.
OHA’s decision in Size Appeal of Doss Aviation, Inc., SBA No. SIZ-5648 (2015) involved a Department of Defense set-aside solicitation. After award was made to Hughes Group LLC, the SBA Area Office conducted a size determination. The SBA Area Office determined that Hughes Group was not an eligible small business due to affiliation with a large subcontractor, Doss Aviation, Inc., under the ostensible subcontractor affiliation rule.
Doss Aviation filed a size appeal. OHA responded by asking Doss to explain why, as a subcontractor, it had standing to file a size appeal. OHA directed Doss to previous OHA size decisions, in which OHA held that an alleged affiliate, whose own size was not at issue in the size determination, has no “direct stake” in the outcome of a size appeal, and thus lacks standing to initiate a size appeal.
Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/sbaohadecisions/sorry-subcontractor-no-size-appeal-for-you/
Learn more about “affiliation” and the “ostensible subcontractor” rule at: https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/affiliation_ver_03.pdf
